Just bought a Naim Nait 5i 6 hours ago in second hand (with warrantie). I don't know if it is normal with Naim amps but it does some humm trough the speakers when I'm no listening music. If I select a source with anything conect there it does the same thing. When I'm listening music it is unaudible.
"I don't know, but I doubt it. I have listened to a number of them which were great.
So congratulations on the acquisition! I would buy one without hesitation.
(future Naim Life!)"
Kevin Corr, do you like to hear Naim's sound? It sounds completely different than Rega gear. In my opinion is impossible to compare these gears because they have nothing in common. Do you love Rega's sound don't you?
I have not listened to Naim amps for long periods. Just shopping demos. That means the speakers were much higher end than my own.
I did own a Naim CDP a couple years ago that sounded great. I did not tire of it but it was very bright and detailed. I used it with my now retired Onix integrated amp.
There is just too much time between for me to now compare to my current Mira3, Apollo set which I love.
By the way did you compare your Rega Mira 3 with a Rega Brio 3? What differences did you find? Was it just more powerfull and dynamic? Does it let the music flows? Times well?
I have not heard the Brio. I bought the Mira simply on faith. We don't have much hifi up here in Alaska. I used to go to Seattle every winter but could not get out this winter so I just got the new hifi by mail. A first time experience, but with the advice and opinions on ecoustics I had good luck!
The Naim sound isn't for everyone. Some love it, and some hate it. A lot of that can also depend on the rest of your system and your room acoustics.
With that being said, have you heard any other Nait 5i's or is this the only one? It may have something wrong with it. Also, humming can be caused by a number of different things - ground loops, and EMI and/or RFI from other components just to name a few. Your dealer should work with you to diagnose and eliminate these as possibilities.
the seller tells me that hummm is normal. Personally I don't think it is normal and I wonder if it isn't changing the sound. Any way, tomorrow it goes back to the shop.
>> Naim gear just sounds good in the first hours, then it just makes you feel tired.
My experience is completely the opposite. I got the Nait5i home, unpacked it, hooked it all up and was like - meh!
But a month of being 'run-in' and some NACA5 cables later and this little puppy is delivering music through my PMC's like a crystal-clear window on a whole new CD collection!
That said, I can understand that some folks taste just won't warm to the extreme clarity and 'directness' Naim gear seems to give, in which case it's back to the demo room!
Best of luck with your search!
PS Re the humming - it seems this does occur subtly with some Naits including mine - power supply irregularities I'm told - but to be honest it's so faint that I have to put my ear up to the unit to hear it. It certainly doesn't carry to the speakers.
If you're not 100% happy with it, by all means return it. There's no sense in trying to force yourself to like something.
While some hum from the unit itself (with your ear within less than a foot of it) may be normal for a lot of equipment, hum shouldn't be heard through the speakers. The only exception that I can think of that its normal is with phono pre-amps, and that's due to the extremely low level signal that needs to be amplified exponentially.
Again, the speaker hum may be caused by several things. Either a ground loop problem or interference are most likely causing this. The archives are full of ways to diagnose and eliminate most of its causes.
Naim sound isn't for everyone. When auditioning a Nait5i/CD5i combo, my only realistic complaint was that I thought it can sound a little edgy. I first thought it was the speakers (Linn Katan), but after a few different ones, it became appearent that it wasn't. In the wrong system and room, this edginess can become worse. Regardless of what the rest of your system (if its on par with the Nait) and room are like, some people are very sensitive to the edginess. It sounds like you are too.
The edginess was probably the single biggest reason why decided to keep my Bryston B60 over the Nait. If you go up Naim's ladder, the edginess goes away in my experience.
There's no sense on keeping something you don't like, nor is there any sense in changing everything else in your system to get one component to sound the right way.
Right on Stu. Don't try pushing a rope James. If you don't cotton to it, that doesn't mean there is something wrong with it (probably) or you. It's just not your sound. If the Rega sound floats your boat then that's the row to hoe.
Hum through the speakers is not normal. A certain level of hiss is normal. There's a big difference between hum and hiss.
A Nait5i will murder a Brio every day of the week, whether you like the presentation or not. The Nait5i is far more open, has way more resolution, better drive and way better timing than the Brio. Either somethign was wrong with the Nait (probable, given the hum through the speakers) or there was a very unfavourable mismatch with the rest of your system which really killed it.
I could discover the cause of humm, after that I brought the Nait again to my home, left it swich on some days until now. It is singing now, everything improved a lot including the timing. It makes my music sound amazing. Even silly music sounds good now . I am discoveryng new kinds of music because it sounds so natural. Any way this amp sounds different than a Rega Brio. It also sounds engaging but is different. I sounds more natural.
I also was a little "confused" by the "hiss" out of the speakers...
But my dealer said this is normal. Humming certainly is different.
I heard that Naim purposefully leaves out a piece of "electronic" that would end this hissing.
My dealer told me, that some clients didnt "want" that hissing. So they sent the item to England and Naim built in that certain "hiss-stopping" electronic device on the board. My dealer said that because of building in this particular device on the board of the amp, the sound altogether decreases.
Can you tell us what the cause was of the hum? I have been racking my brains trying to figure out what it could have been!
Thorsten, most amps have an output buffer which auto-mutes the output stage so it seems like there's no hiss. Naim figure that the buffer is bad for sound quality and have only managed to introduce buffers in some of their latest entry level stuff (like yours) but still not in the higher Reference models (SuperNait and better). The fact that the entry level stuff sounds so good is testament to their research into things like this.
Are you leaving it on or switching it on every day? Naim kit prefers to be left on all the time. If you do this and have your CD player on repeat (or play radio through it) it'll be mostly run in after a week.
Wow right now, I'm listening the radio TheJazz, (I love Jazz guys), what a sound, all atmosphere is here, the musicians are playing so close to me, wonderful, Oh, I love it.
Sorry guys but I allways need to share my happy feelings
Glad to hear that things are working for you. Carnival Silver Plus is a good cable. Nicely open and delicately poised. The Naim cable is a bit more of a bruiser. Your immediate reaction will most likely be 'too much info' until you get used to it because it provides all the parts at once in one cohesive lot. You will notice more bass extension, and possibly more bass. It may also be a slightly darker presentation since it doesn't highlight the treble region as much as the Carnival Silver Plus.
Musically, it's much more together.
But hey, if you're happy and it gets you going as it is, then enjoy for a while until you want more. Speaker cable makes a great birthday/Christmas gift.
Frank, I decided to rush my birthday gift and bought the Nac A5, I couldn't resist. Wow what a difference, it sounds fantastic. it really suits my Nait, I'm more than pleased with my sound now. It is one of the best sounds I'v heard so far.
After 2 months, the run in finally finished. I never expected it could take so much time to run in. Now it plays music even better, is fantastic, it sounds so rhythmic. I love it guys
I recently auditioned a 5i and immediately noticed the humm. Sounding like a ungrounded turntabel :-( I tried different grounding solutions, ground loop investigation etc.to no avail. Took the unit back to the shop and got a new. Took it home. Exact same problem.
Took it to a couple of different friends houses. Same exact problem.
I really liked the sound but I have no time for that kind of build quality. I don't care what kind of electronic/engineering bable explanitions Naim has to offer. My HiFi pusher had a number of excuses. A amplifier at this price should not leave the user with this kind og headache...
In the end that was the reason I decided not to buy Naim.
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Quote: Thorsten Lux
My dealer told me, that some clients didnt "want" that hissing. So they sent the item to England and Naim built in that certain "hiss-stopping" electronic device on the board. My dealer said that because of building in this particular device on the board of the amp, the sound altogether decreases.
This is the first I hear of this. I will have to investigate...
Naim are very clear in their documentation. They use large toroidal transformers which are prone to hum if the mains electricity has DC elements in it (i.e. mains noise). They also say in the docuentation that if it is too strong, a Naim amplifier may not be for you. So it appears a Naim amp is not for you. Such is life.
Either way, it's not a reflection of Naim's build quality - it's a reflection of the quality of your mains.
You are probably right. I just wish it was possible for NAIM to use some kind of filter to remove the humm. Even if it degrades the sound somewhat. It would be wort it
I guess it's also a reflection on my friends mains
